Comments on: Twins pick Scott Baker as fifth starter, send Kevin Slowey to bullpenhttps://mlb.nbcsports.com/2011/03/22/twins-pick-scott-baker-as-fifth-starter-send-kevin-slowey-to-bullpen/
Baseball. Baseball. And then a bit more baseball.Thu, 24 May 2018 17:56:36 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/By: JB (the original)https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2011/03/22/twins-pick-scott-baker-as-fifth-starter-send-kevin-slowey-to-bullpen/#comment-121176
Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:41:56 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=46895#comment-121176Thing with Slowey is though, as a “control” specialist, when he’s “off”, he’s “off” and starts shaking everything off, slowing way down, and ticking off Gardy. He’s kind of a “I know what’s best for me” type of guy (I won’t say Lohse-like, but you get the idea). That isn’t who you want to have to rely on to come in and pitch 3-4 innings when you’re already behind. This demotion isn’t going to do anything to help his disposition, no matter what public face he puts on it. Baker needs to trust his “stuff”, Slowey needs to trust his catcher.

To me, Slowey didn’t fall apart in the later innings as much as the batters adjusted to him. He isn’t overpowering by any means and relies on fooling the batter and nibbling the corners with his control.

]]>By: trevorb06https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2011/03/22/twins-pick-scott-baker-as-fifth-starter-send-kevin-slowey-to-bullpen/#comment-121099
Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:43:30 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=46895#comment-121099And if we’re lucky Gibson will be completely shutting down AAA by then and we can call him up in time for the playoffs. 🙂
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Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:47:56 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=46895#comment-121052Have to disagree with you on Slowey. I think he’d be perfect out of the ‘pen. All last season he was solid for four innings, then would fall apart in the fifth or sixth. By putting him in a long relief role, I think the Twins are playing to his strengths.

All of this is a moot point, though. By mid-May, Baker will be injured or Blackburn will implode (or both), and Slowey will find himself back in the starting rotation.

]]>By: JB (the original)https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2011/03/22/twins-pick-scott-baker-as-fifth-starter-send-kevin-slowey-to-bullpen/#comment-121014
Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:56:59 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=46895#comment-121014The Baker signing wasn’t too surprising as he does have good “stuff”, it’s a matter of consistency (hopefully coming with experience) that the Twins calculated would show up. And, it does have a pretty good possibility of happening. I don’t see Slowey as being effective out of the pen. It just doesn’t jive with his style of pitching. The Blackburn signing still boggles me just like everyone else. When he loses his sinker, he’s atrocious, and how the Twins didn’t see the similarity between him and Carlos Silva, who was/is the same one-pitch (sinker) guy that they let go as a free agent instead of giving him a 4 year deal (that he got with the Mariners), I just don’t know.
]]>By: trevorb06https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2011/03/22/twins-pick-scott-baker-as-fifth-starter-send-kevin-slowey-to-bullpen/#comment-121003
Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:33:23 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=46895#comment-121003Blackburn will bomb again and Slowey will start.

The Blackburn and Baker contracts were huge mistakes but even I was drinking the Blackburn Kool-Aid for a while. I’m not sure what went on with the Baker contract. At least now Smith is making some better decisions by bringing back Pavano and signing Nishi.